My Rival and Me Chapter 1

Summer time, the most beautiful time ever. Period.
Nothing could beat laying in the sunshine on a day at the beach. This was an even easier goal to accomplish if you lived at the beach, as did 15-year-old Splash the Dyeing Poison Dart Frog.

The teenager was currently lounging back in a beach chair on the sand, glancing up from her surfing catalog to take a look at the small cabin on near the waterfront.  It only had three rooms, but that was all she needed, since she lived alone there during the Summer months. Despite only being 15, she already made enough money to support herself just fine, thanks to her part time job as a DJ.

Though, at this very moment, she was trying to think of another way to earn some quick cash.

As Splash looked back down at the catalog in her lap she sighed to herself. By the time she raised enough money for that beautiful surf board the beach would be freezing over, if that was possible. (She had never been one for studying or even caring about the laws of nature.)

Well, when in doubt, as she liked to think she often said, nap.
With that thought fresh in her mind she laid back as far as possible in the chair and pulled her brown cap over her grey eyes.

No more than ten minutes could have passed before the increasingly annoying sounds of hooting and hollering in the near distance made it nearly impossible to relax. Even so, the frog tried in vain to get some rest, though she wondered who on earth was running around near her nearly deserted beach.

When she recognized a particularity squawky tone, she scowled as her question was answered.

The three people she detested most in this world where here. On her beach. Even if it wasn't "hers", she'd get them to leave if it was the last thing she ever did.

Especially the squawker.

If there was one person she hated, if there was one person she loathed, if there was one person she'd most like to see jump off a one thousand foot cliff into crocodile invested waters and then have a bolder the size of King Kong fall after them it was-...

"JET THE HAWK!!!" Splash screamed as she went running to the nearby sand dunes where the Babylon Rogues where obnoxiously riding their Extreme Gear. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?"

The green hawk stopped his board, the Type J, quickly and pulled his lime colored goggles on to the top of his head.

"Riding. It's a free country." He answered with his signature snide smirk.

"And just why would you do that here? Near me." Splash replied with a stone-like expression.

"So?"

"You hate me as much as I hate you."

"True, true." Jet looked back at the other two Babylonians thoughtfully. "But I, as well as my two esteemed fellow thieves, love the beach."

"Then go find another beach." Splash growled as she curled her eight webbed fingers into two fists and stood defiantly in front of Jet.

"Why don't you make me?" Jet stood to his full height. (Which, in Splash's eyes, wasn't anything threatening at all.)

While the hawk and frog shouted meaningless angry words at each other, Storm the Albatross sat on the sand and crossed his arms.

"Guess we'll be here a while."

"Yup." Agreed Wave, as she dusted off her outfit.

This might be a good time to explain why the Rogues disagreed so much with Splash. You see, nearly as old as the battle of Good verses Evil there has been another battle about...

Surfing verses Extreme Gear.

Splash lived to surf, to ride the waves, to go where the water could take her.
Those cheaters, those birds brains with air powered boards, thought they where "better" because they could go almost anywhere.

That would probably also explain why Splash and Jet fought more than she did with the other two, him being the leader. Though, she still had a large amount of animosity directed towards Storm and Wave.

Storm, she considered to be the world's only talking rock. Since he talked like that was what was in his head in place of a brain. Of course, the oversized lackey had nothing against hitting a girl, but being a frog, Splash was nimble enough to leap out of the way before Storm could even decide which fist to attempt to hit her with.

Wave, on the other hand, was easily the smartest of the three, being the team's mechanic, and she was no sissy either. Splash watched what she said about Wave to her face a little more so than the Babylon boys. Still, she was still an "Air rider" and therefor, to be shunned by a surfer. Aside from that, she and Splash just had clashing personalities, since they both had slight issues with their egos.

Back on the beach, Jet and Splash continued to argue, and had finally gotten down to the petty and childish insulting. Not to worry, it was just another phase of their usual fights, you could nearly set your watch to the different phases of these things. In about another two minutes they'd be off to race their boards across the water.

"Feather brain!"

"Yeah? Well you eat pond scum!"

"This isn't a pond, it's the ocean, genius."

Wave yawned as she watched. She was done watching this "show" for the third time this week.

"I'll be riding my board over there if you need me." She told Jet, even though it was obvious he wasn't listening. She then turned to Storm. "Coming?"

Without waiting for answer, she sped off over the hills of peach colored sand.

"B-But!" Storm stuttered. "The boss said we was here to celebrate!"

Quickly glancing nervously from Jet to the way Wave had run off, Storm gave a  flustered sigh and followed Wave.

"Wait, celebrate what?" Splash stopped mid-insult, (And it was a good one too, about how stupid Jet looked with his goggles on.) as Storm disappeared out of sight as well.

Jet smiled as he reached for the latest item he'd stolen, which was being kept safely in the top of the tall red boot on his right foot. He'd been waiting for her to ask something like that. Everyone knew he always loved to show off the bounty of a successful "mission" with the other Rogues.

Of course, Jet was one of those people that luck seemed to hate, so at the moment a large metal claw dropped from the sky and grabbed both of the teens. Then, slowly began to pull them up, higher and higher.

"The Egg Carrier?!??!? SERIOUSLY???" Splash's jaw dropped as she looked up at the giant airship pulling them in.

"The what?" Jet gave her a confused look.

"Eggman. You know, Ivo Robotnik. What on EARTH does that jerk want with me? I've never even seen him face to face!"

"Maybe he's after me." Jet suggested.

"In your dreams. What would he want with an air head like you?"